Venturing in pairs: a case study of two gamebooks from Brazil and Hungary

Abstract

This work aims is to divulge the gamebook culture that exists in Brazil and Hungary, as well as to seek positive results from this cultural scam. This hybrid genre is the result of the union between interactive fiction narrative and a system of RPG-style rules, and it is rarely the target of in-depth research from academic studies, even though it reached a climax in the 1980s and still generates creative publications for its readers. Authors such as Todorov (1975) have been used as methodologies to classify the wonderful and the fantastic in the works approached; Silva (2019) with respect to the gamebook; Espagne and Magri (2017) referring to cultural transference, as well as several texts from the specific media focused on RPG and the mainstream media. As objects of comparative analysis were chosen the gamebooks Renascido (1996) and Cigánylabirintus (2004) because they stand out over the other gamebooks of their time. Although they are exceptions to the gamebook standard in their publishing context, such works may be models of interactive books because they unite social issues with playful elements, offering readers-players the opportunity to become aware through immersive interactive reading. With this, the cultural exchange between Brazil and Hungary through their experiences with authentic gamebooks could greatly add to their readership, and encourage the publishing markets of both countries to invest in the search for new authors and new publications of this kind, which would foster their respective consumer audiences with increasingly original and engaged narratives.